Voyager: The Eurovision Dream
Ahead of their Eurovision final performance, we spoke to the Australian entry, VOYAGER. Sitting down with us were Danny Estrin [vocals, keytar], Alex Canion [bass] and Ash Doodkorte [drums]. The band is then completed by Scott Kay and Simone Dow on guitar. From joking about bringing out ancient Chinese instruments, to promoting Danny‘s theoretical hair care line, the group were all geared up and ready to head to Liverpool when we sat down with them in April.
As of Friday, May 12th, VOYAGER has confirmed their place in the Eurovision Grand Final with their track Promise. When asked how they feel about being Australia’s Eurovision entry, Danny described the experience as a “riot”. “It’s been hectic, when we were performing I got so exited I punched the stage!”
As a song for Eurovision can be literally any multitude of genres, we asked the trio to describe their track in their own words to someone who has never heard it before. “If you like DURAN DURAN, TESSERACT or MESHUGGAH, then you should like it,” said Danny. “It has a nice big scream and a positive message,” adds Alex.
Danny was eager to turn the focus to the response they received to the track. “We’ve had a lot of really positive responses. People are saying it’s a good song for Europe right now, we’ve even had people say that their non-verbal autistic kids are responding to the song and that it’s helping people get through the day. It’s more than we could have ever dreamed.” Both Alex and Ash nodded firmly in agreement, reiterating that “it’s crazy” to them.
But does creating a song for Eurovision differ to creating a track for their traditional release? In short, yes. “Creating a song [for Eurovision] has a lot more restraints. It can be no longer than three minutes, we have to find a way to say what we want to say in that time,” Alex explains. Considering VOYAGER tracks average at closer to four to five minutes, it’s no surprise that they had to focus on the content. Ash doubled down to say that the length was their biggest struggle “you really have to think about everything that’s there. You have to create drama and theatre but you can’t overload it.”
Even with their trademark genre-bending chaos within the track, the band say that they are loving the creative direction fans are going in with the remixes that have been popping up. “We’ve seen one remix [of Promise] where it was just the breakdown on repeat!” Danny laughs to a bemused Alex who retorted that they “tried to make sure it was still a VOYAGER song, not a ‘VOYAGER doing Eurovision‘ song” insisting they wanted to stay true to themselves.
Eurovision is well known for being an extravagant, camp, over-the-top extravaganza, and VOYAGER promised to bring exactly what the public has come to expect. “It’s gonna be dialled up,” Alex insists eagerly. “We’ve got costumes and staging. We’re going to bring some thing extra to the stage too that we can’t tell you about just yet!” Danny hints.
Everyone from casual watchers, to avid fans, have a favourite moment from Eurovision. Danny is a self-titled Eurovision fan who eagerly proclaimed his love for SILVIA NIGHT and the drama she caused in 2006 “getting the crowd to boo her…telling the press they couldn’t look at her and kicking out the guy who did, it was amazing!” he retells happily, insisting that his favourite detail was that Silvia’s opening line was ‘Congratulations, I have arrived’. Ash stuck with his come country, adding that his favourite was Australia’s 2016 entry, DAMI IM “that high note before the final chorus always blows me away!”
Alex confessed that he has never really watched Eurovision until this past year, explaining that he, his family, and friends, have all been on a crash-course of learning about Eurovision and the history that comes with it. “One that comes to mind immediately is LOREEN’s Euphoria, that whole experience of watching her performance is just wow,” and for good reason, most people in Europe are well aware of Euphoria due to it’s mass appeal.
With Eurovision being such a grand, over-the-top fanfare, it can be crazy to explain the process and experience to those who haven’t been though it, Ash details that “one of the best parts of the process has been meeting all the other artists, no one else knows what we’re going through like them.” Danny agrees, “it’s been great getting to know everyone.”
“Well, I actually enjoy performing the song to thousands of people,” Alex teases the pair, joking that he was a ‘serious musician’. Ash quickly retorts that Alex can play all he wants as he and Danny are “working to get us the votes.” And votes are exactly what they need.
Danny informs us that this is the last year of Australia’s current contract with Eurovision, so he ‘hoped’ that they could win it for their country. “We’re gonna go all out and give it our best and hopefully bring it home,” he insists triumphantly. “It’s coming home!” Alex grins smugly after singing the phrase, snickering at the reaction to the English people in the room who are very familiar with that phrase after the past few years of football cups.
Fearless In Love is set for release on July 14th via Season Of Mist.
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